18-year-old Swiss athlete Jamie Huser takes his first Pro win in only his second Pro event at the Supra Boats Pro Wake Tour stop #2 in Acworth, GA.
“It feels unreal and I haven’t yet fully accepted that it happened,” said Huser after reflecting on his performance last weekend. He continued, “It felt like the judges were rewarding stand-up runs more than going for the hardest tricks, so I played it safe on my double-up and focused on a run I could stand up even in rough water.”
If he sounds like a tour veteran already, you aren’t completely wrong. Huser has numerous Jr. Pro titles under his belt, including US Nationals, and Worlds, so he is no stranger to the competitive scene. He now leads the PWT in overall standings and has fully recovered from a year of challenges.
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Wise beyond his years, Huser saw the opportunity that presented itself with PWT leader Cory Teunissen and perennial favorite Nic Rapa each going down in the quarter finals. Uncharacteristic falls in the rough conditions made the finals look and feel a lot different than others. “Without Cory and Nic in there, it actually added even more pressure because my chances to win felt higher,” noticed Huser. “My goal was just to get into the finals but then on my 2nd finals run, I just had so much fun with it that I wasn’t nervous anymore.” He looked comfortable and fluid linking tech wrapped spins, stylish grabbed mobes, and a throwback to one of the PWT’s winningest athletes, a whirly-dick a la Phil Soven to top it off. Playing it safe with a backside 7 off the double-up rather than forcing a 9 yet again showed that Huser’s brain and ability to adapt on the fly matches his physical ability, again very reminiscent of athletes who started winning at an early age.
Pro Wakeboard Finals Results
| Jamie Huser | 97.67 |
| Jake Pelot | 95.00 |
| Sam Brown | 87.00 |
| Kai Ditsch | 82.00 |
| Tyler Higham | 60.00 |
| Shota Tezuka | 55.67 |
A theme for this year’s competitive boat scene has been return-to-form post injury that Megan Ethell and Massi Piffaretti showed the world at Masters. Now Huser joins that list as he had to overcome a debilitating sickness, followed by a torn labrum in his shoulder, a classic arm-through-the-handle fall that tore muscles in his arm, then dropping an angle grinder on his leg that severed tendons, all within the last year. After only one and half months back from his latest injury, Huser looks like yet another name to be worried about showing up in your heat as a fellow competitor.
Junior Pro Wakeboard Finals Results
| Daniel Johnson | 82.67 |
| Beaux Wildman | 79.33 |
| Stefano Comollo | 51.67 |
| Noah Bollard | 45.00 |
Being comfortable around the sport shouldn’t be difficult for Huser. While he and his family currently own the World Wakeboard Center (formerly owned by the family of World Champions Trevor and Reed Hansen), they have visited central Florida for 2 decades on wakeboarding vacations. The first time I met Jamie was when he came over from Switzerland in a baby carrier and played in the sand at The Wakeboard Camp as an infant. It was truly a full circle moment for me to see him win as Jamie reminded me “You taught my Mom how to wakeboard, she still talks about it to this day.”
Pro Wakesurf Finals Results
| Taylor Swanson | 89.00 |
| Beaux Wildman | 84.33 |
| Jett Lambert | 77.33 |
Another notable finish was Jake Pelot taking his first PWT podium spot with a very strong second place finish. Pelot is no stranger to the finals and has the arsenal of tricks to make a run but “had the run of his life” according to tour driver Trevor Hansen.
With tight standings and early disruption to any predicted storyline, the PWT is shaping up to be a series to pay close attention to with stop #3 kicking off next month back in Central Florida.
